YouTube has passed Yahoo! as the world's second biggest search engine according the the latest numbers from comScore. It is a different sort of search engine of course, the queries are for videos. Seeking to monetize all that traffic, YouTube has quietly launched "Sponsored Videos," a program modeled after and managed by Google AdSense. It is a keywords purchase program. Owners of videos can choose to promote individual videos by purchasing keywords. Like AdSense, owners can set a daily or monthly cap on charges and they can determine the cost-per-click cost: The higher the CPC choosen, the higher in the results page. The minimum CPC is $.50 and the maximum is $5.00.Search results are displayed as small thumbnails on the upper right hand of the screen. The video images are just above the list of conventional Google AdSense (text) results. Google announced the program back in November but it has been very much under the radar. Recently, YouTube placed a "new" function on the "accounts" page of uploading members.A YouTube spokesperson declined to comment on the scope of the program, numbers of keywords or auction pricing. He explained that the program was in the early stages and very little data is available. Spending time on the site, there are very few search results. Some film studios seem to have bought up a number of words. But, the field is quite open. I predict more and more marketers will create videos and will find YouTube an effective spot to spend media dollars. Yes, the monetization of video search for Google may happen the old fashion way, keyword search.On Monday, I was as the Google offices in Washington for the YouTube media conference. After the session, I interveiwed Olivia Ma, YouTube News Specialist. We spoke about the growth of YouTube in the news area, the impact of the Election on traffic and the Sponsored Video program.Miquel Helft at The New York Times wrote today about the evolution of YouTube as a new kind of search engine.-- Andy Plesser, Executive Producer Less